Time Moves
by December'sRose
Summary: If the present is a gift, then why doesn’t Sally feel grateful? Nally ::Noel/Sally:: one-shot. Implied Dasey.


Title: Time Moves

Rated T

Summary: If the present is a gift, then why doesn't Sally feel grateful? Nally ::Noel/Sally:: one-shot. Implied Dasey.

Disclaimer: I don't own Life with Derek

A/N: First Nally one-shot published on fan fiction! Yay! This is another request for Aurélie (lyraGW on youtube!). Again, it's more like a trade. I requested a video from her and in return she asked for a Nally one-shot because I offered her a fanfic. I hope you enjoy it Aurélie! Sorry it took me a while to post it up! Honestly, I'm not expecting a lot of reviews for this because it's such an odd pairing, but if anyone happens to reads this would you please leave a review telling me what you thought? I'd really appreciate it!

_Dedication: For Aurélie (LyraGW)_

* * *

_In the beginning, she was loved._

_She enjoyed the attention. She wasn't going to deny that. From day one, Sally's favorite gave was playing hard-to-get. She was strong, and independent. She was reliable._

_Only _he _turned it all around._

_When their first breakup occurred, he left her heartbroken. When the drama struck afterwards, Sally wasn't sure she'd be able to get through it all because she knew the truth._

_The truth hurt. It mocked her mercilessly, every time it had a chance to. Sally knew this wasn't fixable. She knew she'd have to run. She'd flee London, she'd hide away in Vancouver. Sally was positive that the truth wouldn't follow her there._

_Only, she was wrong. It did follow. There was no way Sally was going to be able to transfer to another college this late in the year, especially when she was so familiar and accustomed to her new surroundings. Sally loved Vancouver._

_She was here first._

_Now, instead of hiding she'd ignore it. She'd ignore it when she went to school, when she went about her very life. Sally believed she had something to live for, even if she didn't have anything to die for._

_She wasn't going to let the truth win._

_The truth wasn't going to win. _

The crisp, afternoon breeze touched her hair gently. She closed her eyes and leaned back, content.

"Remind me again. Why did you drag me here today?"

Sally opened one eye at the sound of Patrick's voice, just in time to see him approach with two, tall lemonades. She sat up eagerly as she accepted the drink.

"Well, since you're in town why not?" Sally responded after taking a sip. "Besides, you love art."

"Admit it; you just didn't want to come here alone." Her ex-boyfriend teased as he took a seat on the bench. Sally made a face and ignored the comment. The park was bustling with excitement and laughter. Stands had been set up for the annual art fair that month while food carts were stationed in every corner. The two had arrived there earlier. Patrick was visiting her that week, in hopes to restart their dead relationship. As much as Sally enjoyed his company, and since her latest ex-boyfriend was (sort of) out of the picture, the past relationship she shared with Patrick was distant…almost dead. The intimacy had faded from sight and she was unable to rekindle her old feelings. Patrick seemed inept to grasp this, and persisted with his plan. Sally tried not to lead him on best she could, but he was making things difficult.

Which is why she suggested this event in the first place. Sally loved coming to the annual art fair in Vancouver. It was always nice to walk around the park and check out the hard work artists put into their passions. Of course the city around the park would just go about its' business but there were always some art appreciators who took time out of their busy schedules to come out that day. Sometimes, if Sally had extra money, she'd buy a painting…or a sculpture too. She knew that Patrick did enjoy viewing various art works, but even Sally could tell from a mile away that his enthusiasm for the art fair was practically non-existent.

At least it was a distraction. At least there would be no drama.

"Fine, I admit it." Sally said finally, rolling her eyes. As much as Sally didn't want to, she admitted it. Patrick would be able to tell otherwise anyway, which would cause slight awkward tension on her part.

"Well, if you just want my company, could we at least do something else today?" He asked, eagerly as he watched a few kids run past.

Sally's frown was apparent in her features. In truth, she did want Patrick's company. With her best friend still stuck in London, Ontario she had no one to talk to. Sure she new people from college but they were merely acquaintances, not close friends. Derek certainly wasn't willing to chat with her after that drama ordeal and neither was Casey. Not that she cared about ever talking to that girl again, but because of her limited friends in Vancouver she felt alone.

That's why she was thrilled with Patrick's visit, despite his real intentions of visiting. It was always nice to see a familiar face.

"Tell you what," Sally began, after gulping down another helping of lemonade. "You can go wait in the car. I want to walk around again one more time."

Patrick rolled his eyes. "No more than five minutes," he reconciled, proceeding to rise from his seat. He swiftly kissed Sally on the cheek. "And don't go overboard buying last minute stuff. I'm not carrying in huge paintings for your apartment."

Sally made a face at him as she got up from the bench as well. The fair was still busy. It wasn't as busy as when they had first arrived, but Sally still noticed the excitement of all the kids and their parents rushing from booth to booth. Tranquil days like these were rare. Since she was on March break, she was allowed to relax for once but once Patrick left Vancouver, it was back to the books. If she wanted to graduate with a Major in Education that summer, she needed to ace those finales.

The park was oval-shaped so once around it would satisfy her. The walk itself wouldn't take more than ten minutes. Sally kept her eyes moving from left to right, re-checking out the incredible artwork and jewelry people had up for sale. Impulse urged her to buy each and every item, but she resisted. As much as she wanted the pieces, Sally knew she could live without them.

Almost halfway around the perimeter, Sally stopped as she spotted a crowd applauding nearby. Curious, Sally approached the audience and tried to locate who they were appreciating. A small stage had been set up for music entertainment earlier, but now occupying that stage was a single stool instead of risers. On this stool sat a familiar face.

Sally stared as the guy, who looked like he could be around her age, got up from his stool and waved a grateful hand to his audience. "Thanks everyone, its been a real pleasure." He assured as he began to walk off. The audience followed his suit and began to disperse, but Sally kept her eyes on him. Something about creative musicians always appealed to her. She figured this was why she and Patrick never lasted long. Patrick was always interested in sports and only sports. Sure, he'd try to impress her with a night out at some exhibit or museum but Sally knew that he just wasn't into it. At least when she tried to drag Derek along, he didn't bother with the white lie "I love that stuff because you love that stuff."

Sally blinked when she noticed that the familiar face was now heading in the opposite direction. Persistence drove her forward, knowing that if she didn't figure out who this guy was now and she missed her chance, it'd be on her mind all night. Quickly, she made her way over to him before he blended within the fair grounds.

"Um, wait!" She called, feeling silly. The guy turned around and looked at her, puzzled, as she finally caught up with him. "Do…do I know you?"

He frowned as if trying to recognize her too. "I'm not sure. Were you listening to my poetry earlier?"

Sally shook her head. "I caught the end, just when you were leaving. But I swear, you look so…." Her voice trailed off as her memory tried to make itself useful. His features were vague; his brown hair and stunning eyes reminded her of someone from the past. The past she tried not to think about.

"Did you used to live in London, Ontario?" Sally asked, curiously. It couldn't be who she thought it was. She hadn't seen him in years. He was supposed to be in London! Not here! This was her place, this was where she was comfortable. Only then, he was never really apart of the drama before. Just mentioned. Sally bet that the guy didn't even know half the stuff she had found out from Beth.

"Yeah, I went to high school in London," He said, now interested. "You seem really familiar too. I think I know you."  
"Noel, right?" Sally asked, half-eager and half-irritated.

"Yeah, that's me," Noel Covington nodded. "I think you used to work at Smelly's, right? You were Derek's girlfriend."

Sally forced herself not to wince at the old title. She put on a smile. "Yeah. Casey and Derek had set you and Kendra up on a double date once. Wow, it's a small world."

"Tell me about it," Noel grinned. "I didn't think that I'd find any old faces from London. I take it you're still going to the University here?"

"Yeah, I'm almost done. I should be graduating soon," Sally smiled, relaxing into the conversation. "What about you?"

"I'm not bothering with college just yet. I have a job as a photographer for a this newspaper but other than that I mostly travel to find inspiration." Noel indicated a spiral in his left hand, one that Sally had just noticed.

"Wait, if you have a steady job, how can you travel?" Sally asked.

"My boss lets me upload and email pictures from my computer. It's a win-win situation actually. I can cover a lot of pictures if I move around. When I finally get enough money I'm going to try to major in photography."

Could this really be the same Noel she had briefly met way back when? He looked like Noel, even if he had grown a bit older, and his presence was certainly the same but Sally distinctively remembered how mystifying Noel used to be. According to Casey, he was always a follower and a dare devil apparently. She would never have expected suspected someone with that personality type to have the courage to read poetry to strangers, unless of course he _had_ been dared. Only, who would have dared him? Noel himself had stated that there were no old faces in Vancouver with him.

"I'm sorry I missed your poetry, I didn't know you wrote." Sally said, honestly. Noel shrugged.

"No big deal. It wasn't anything special. I just wanted to come up here today because I had seen an article in the newspaper yesterday. I saw that the stage was open to musicians and readers so I figured, why not?"

"Impressive." Sally nodded. An awkward silence seemed to want to take over but Noel wouldn't allow it.

"So, have you spoken to Casey and Derek lately?" Noel caught the visible twitch of Sally's eye as she scowled.

"No." Sally replied, curtly. "I don't keep in contact with them anymore."

Noel was about to ask what was wrong until memory provided him with the answer. _Of course she wouldn't want to talk about that_, he told himself bitterly. _In fact I sort of don't want to talk about it myself._

"It's for the best I guess," Sally continued averting her gaze to the grass. "I'm sure if I popped up again in London, the Venturi-McDonalds would throw a fit if I tried anything."  
"You had nothing to do with it," Noel assured her, frowning in sympathy. "You were just doing what you thought was right." At his words, Sally looked up from the ground and met his eyes. She knew he spoke the truth; she knew he was right. No one but him had ever said that out loud to her face though, not even Beth.

"Thanks." Sally told him, unsure of what else to respond with. Before Noel could say anything, Sally turned in time to see Patrick approaching the two acquaintances with curious eyes.

"I've been waiting in the car for fifteen minutes," He explained as soon as Sally was in ear shot. "If we hurry we can still catch a movie…" Patrick's sentence trailed when he noticed Noel. "Um, hi?"

Sally rolled her eyes. "Ignore him, he's only met you once. Patrick, you remember Noel, right? From the blind date fiasco at Smelly Nelly's?

Noel smirked. "Well, I wouldn't call it a _fiasco_." At once the memory of him and Casey at the end of the evening made him smile, but it was soon replaced when the more painful memories took over again.

"Oh yeah, hey," Patrick greeted, shaking his hand. "Didn't expect to run into you here." He turned to his ex-girlfriend. "So, are you up for a movie later?"

Sally shot an apologetic look towards Noel who was left out of the invitation. Noel shrugged it off. "Or you guys can come to the art exhibit later tonight," He suggested. "They're featuring a new piece." Noel watched as Sally's eyes lit up enthusiastically, positive that she'd rather much go to the exhibit than the movie. Patrick, on the other hand, winced.

"Haven't you looked at enough art today?" He asked. Sally looked over at him.

"Well, I always love going to art exhibits. And I haven't been able to hang out with anyone from London in ages," She paused when Patrick made a coughing noise. "Except you." She added quickly. Sally batted her eyes. "You wouldn't mind if I hung out with Noel tonight would you?"

Noel's expression became pleased and Patrick sighed, defeated. "If you want to go look at art again, by all means go. I'll just hang out at your place."

"Aw, thanks Patrick!"

"The exhibit starts in an hour," Noel informed her. "You want to get some lunch first? My treat."

Sally smiled at him. "Sure, that sounds nice. Thanks." She paid no attention to Patrick's irritated glance. Patrick himself knew that she wasn't going to take him back. Sally had told him the moment she figured out his real intentions of visiting. If she wanted to go on a date with someone other than him, he'd just have to deal with it.

* * *

The next couple of days had been the best Sally had experienced as of late. Due to his sulking, Patrick decided to leave early. His excuse was he didn't want to impose. Noel had taken Sally to exhibits, movies, restaurants and all the while Sally felt herself growing closer to a guy she wished she became closer to years before. Studying was beyond her, all she wanted to do was just be with him. It felt nice to date again. Sally had been asked by several guys in her classes, but she didn't feel like it was the right time to date. Especially since know one knew her story.

Noel knew though. He understood it as well. Sally was surprised at how comfortable it was talking to him. How interesting their conversations were about literature, art and the past. He confided in Sally about how Casey had crawled back to him that senior year, just in hopes that he'd be her date. It irritated him that apparently she thought of him as one of her "friends with benefits." Like Tinker.

They were returning from a movie, and Sally was eager to hang out with him in her apartment before he had to leave. She had noticed though, that Noel seemed distracted throughout the film. Sally was hoping that she'd be able to get him to talk before he left for the night.

"So, I thought the blood and gore was okay, but the plot line sucked…no pun intended," Sally retorted, referencing the vampire film they had just seen. Noel blinked, snapping out of his trance as he realized that Sally had spoken to him.

"It needed closure," He added his input. "It was too vague." He took a seat next to Sally on her small couch. Text books lay forgotten on the corner of the coffee table. Sally glanced at them, sighing.

"I should probably read those." She said sadly. Noel chuckled at her lack of enthusiasm.

"Not tonight though. Tonight, it's just all about you and me." She continued, smiling as she leaned into him on the couch. Noel instinctively put his arm around her shoulders as she snuggled into his frame.

"Noel?"

"Yep?"

Sally glanced up at him. "What's on your mind? You've been distant. Don't deny it, I've noticed it ever since you picked me up today."

Now it was Noel's turn to sigh. He sat up straighter, a thoughtful expression now present upon his face. "I was just thinking about how different things would have been if we had known each other back then."

Sally frowned. Things would have probably been a lot different. If she had been dating him _back then _she would have never dated Derek. She would have never bothered with Patrick and she probably would have been happier. Beth certainly would have approved of Noel. In fact, Sally thought that he and Beth would hit off automatically when they met. There was just something about Noel that was earnest…like he wasn't capable of doing anything wrong.

"You know, Casey didn't totally use me," Noel mused. "She told me later that I was too nice a guy for her to mix into the drama."

Her frown turned into a scowl. "But she did include you into it. Casey just decided before it got chaotic to pull you out of it. It doesn't make the situation right." Sally felt Noel's arm pull her closer to him as he rested his forehead upon her head. He knew how she felt about the whole situation. About how she felt when Beth informed her of the secret relationship between the step-siblings. About how she felt when she tried to warn George and Nora but realized that she was too late, and the accusations turned over on her. George and Nora had frowned upon Sally, claiming that she was trying to ruin the relationship because she was jealous of Casey. Sally had scoffed at the idea. Jealous? Of Casey? Casey was the last person she'd ever be jealous of. Even though she stated this, Derek kept insisting it too. He kept insisting that Sally was mad because he had replaced her with Casey.

Then the younger ones, Edwin and Lizzie, decided to have a say in the matter. Lizzie told Sally that she thought she was better than that. That she thought she'd be accepting of the new relationship instead of immature about it. Edwin claimed if she ever tried to do anything to Casey or his brother Sally would have to answer to him. Marti, on the other hand, remained confused until Lizzie carefully explained what was going down. Then, she became angry with Sally because Marti thought that Sally was hurting her favorite brother.

Noel had been mentioned within the chaos. Sally accused Casey of using him, of leading him on. Casey swore that she would never do that to her friend, that the only reason she asked him on that date was because she just needed a date. Because of her harsh accusation, Derek, being the assistant manger, fired Sally from Smelly's out of anger and betrayal. While she was visiting for fun, she decided to help out again as a waitress. Derek wasn't really paying her much, but the extra cash had been needed for travel expenses. Now, she would never be able to work at her favorite job again.

The warm family that had loved it when she visited, stayed over for dinner, when she played with Marti, gave Edwin advice or helped Lizzie with her homework, when she consoled Casey whenever there was another breakup between her and a guy, whenever she made Derek beyond happy had turned their backs on her. She had been labeled an immature threat, and had been asked never to show her face around the household again.

The memory of that visit still pained her. She was angry at them. Sally was doing the right thing? She was just telling George and Nora about what was really going on with their own kids. It wasn't like she had committed a murder.

Sally came out of her thoughts when she felt Noel's lips press softly against her hair. His mouth trailed down to her ear, then neck, before his lips found her own.

The kiss was a hungry kiss. Hot passion snaked throughout her own body as Noel deepened it. She placed her own arms around his neck as he pulled her downwards, yearning for more.

Though the memory of the incident was still somewhat fresh, Sally found herself concentrating on her own pleasure. She would not regret what she knew would happen in minutes as the kissing became intense and demanding. While she was aware that Derek and Casey would probably be doing the exact same thing she and Noel were currently doing, Sally felt surprised that it didn't bother her. Reuniting with Noel had taught her that the past didn't matter as much as it hurt. They parted for air for a moment, lips melting together a second later, lust taking over completely.

Time moved forward, not stopping for anyone or anything. There was no way to erase history or change it and there was no way to escape it. Only for that night, Sally knew that she wouldn't be thinking about the past later. As insane as it sounded, she was grateful that she was finally able to just live in the moment.

-Fin-

A/N: So there you have it, my first take at Nally. Did I do okay? I'd love to hear what readers thought, good or bad. I adore constructive crit. I especially hope that this was what you had in mind Aurélie and I hope you enjoyed this as much as I enjoyed writing it. Thanks for reading everyone! Until next time!

"_Never let go of the one you truly love."_

-December'sRose


End file.
